M3gan debuts with a strong $30.2 million at the box office… but it can’t dethrone Avatar 2

The opening weekend of any year at the box office is usually weak, but Avatar: The Way of Water and newcomer M3gan proved to be the exception to that rule.

M3gan opened as the first new wide release for 2023, grossing $30.2 million at the box office (via Deadline), just days after producer James Wan and director Gerard Johnstone hinted that there might be a sequel to M3gan.

Despite a strong debut, it couldn’t dethrone director James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water, which earned its fourth straight weekend of $45 million.

Avatar: The Way of Water continues its breakneck run, dropping just 33.2% in its fourth weekend, up from a third weekend that saw an astonishing 6.4% rise from the second weekend.

The highly anticipated sequel was added in 138 more theaters for a fourth-weekend count of 4,340 theaters, with a solid per-screen average of $10,368.

The fourth-weekend haul pushed the blockbuster past the $500 million domestic threshold with $516.7 million, and the worldwide haul surpassed $1.7 billion.

Avatar: The Way of Water is now the seventh highest-grossing film in the world, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.91 billion), Avengers: Infinity War ($2.048 billion), Star Wars: Episode VII – The force awakens ($2.069 billion). ), Titanic ($2.201 billion), Avengers: Endgame ($2.797 billion), and Avatar ($2.922 billion).

Avatar: The Way of Water also reached the $500 million milestone in just 23 days, a full seven days faster than the biggest movie of 2022, Top Gun: Maverick, which has earned $718.7 million domestically.

It also became the biggest fourth weekend for any film since the original Avatar, which grossed $50.3 million in its fourth box office in early 2010.

Universal’s M3gan rode a wave of good reviews (93% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) to a $30.2 million debut.

It opened in 3,509 theaters and posted a strong average of $8,606 per screen for its opening frame.

The thriller, directed by Gerard Johnstone from a script by Malignant writer Akela Cooper, grossed an additional $14.8 million from foreign markets for a worldwide debut of just over $45 million.

Rounding out the top 5 is DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, which fell 22% to $13.1 million in third place, A Man Called Otto (which expanded to 637 more theaters) in fourth place with $4.2 million with a solid $6,593 per screen average and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at $3.3 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody ($2.4 million, $19.6 million domestic), The Whale ($1.5 million, $8.5 million domestic), Babylon ($1.4 million, $13, 5 million domestic), Violent Night ($741,000, $49.4 million domestic) and The Menu ($713,000, $37.6 million domestic).

Next weekend brings Lionsgate’s action thriller Plane, while A Man From Otto will expand again in a wide release.